Filmed By Bike in Portland

Headed out to Filmed by Bike this week in Portland? Make sure to ride your bike there (it's kind of the point, right?). Don't worry, there will be a bike valet area there! Yes, courtesy of Kryptonite.

What's Filmed by Bike? Here's what they have to say about themselves:

Filmed by Bike is the West Coast's premier bike-themed film festival. The festival embraces the art and innovation of bikes through the eyes of imaginative storytellers who use moving images to celebrate the world's most efficient and creative form of transportation. Since 2003, Filmed by Bike has showcased a love of two wheels in eight minutes or less. This festival-plus-party happens once a year in Bike City, USA: Portland Oregon. The event grabs hold of an entire weekend of screenings and features movies from around the globe.

It's Friday thru Sunday this week. Check out the website for more details. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? I'm just bummed it's so far away....

In related news, check out the new bike racks at Portland's City Hall. Way to go, Portland!

Kryptonite Bike Racks

When we started our brand relaunch planning back just about a year ago we had a plan...and then we modified that plan...and then modified again. Sometimes a plan doesn't come together for whatever reason. So, not everything we originally planned for happened. Ah well...that's life.

One thing that was always on the plan was to provide some great cycling cities with permanent bike racks. We wanted to give cyclists in these cities and towns more places to secure their bikes when they were off exploring the city - or just doing daily errands.

It was a long process, longer than any of us expected, but in the end 4 cycling cities and towns will have bike racks installed - or already do. Portland, Oregon was the first city to see the bike racks. The first group was installed at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and seem to be full just about all the time.

Thanks to Rachael Allen for the photos of the Portland racks!

The school actually took away some car parking spots to put in a bigger bike rack area. How cool is that?! Now, to be fair and tell both sides, some people in Portland aren't happy that the racks have a company name on them, but most people seem to think more bike racks are a good thing and will use them. As you can see by the photos, dozens of people don't mind the little logo on the bottom of the racks. They just care about having a safe place to lock while in school or around the area. Photos like this just make us smile!

All full in Portland!

Then it was off to Blue Island, Illinois, which is just outside of Chicago. They are a city that is trying to get back to more of its roots of being a walking and cycling city. The racks were just installed there a couple of weeks ago and Roby went out to meet with some people in town, including Mayor Peloquin, to christen the racks.

Julie Sklom a resident of Blue Island and member of MainStreet,

their Open Space Committee, rides over to meet Roby)

Mayor Peloquin and his office were gracious hosts to Roby when he was in town and were happy to have these racks provided (read the mayor's thoughts here). All of the cities and towns we've partnered with have been so great to work with during this project. But the local advocacy groups have been fantastic, too. Chicagoland Bicycle Federation really helped out with getting racks placed in their area and have been very supportive of this initiative. They even came out to the christening in Blue Island (thanks guys!).

(l-r)--Keith Holt (Chicagoland Bicycle Federation), Roby, Julie Sklom,

Mayor Donald Peloquin, Nicholas Crite (Land Planning Manager)

There will be more racks installed soon in one other Portland location as well as in Austin, Texas and Palos Heights, Illinois. In all, over 75 racks will be around the country for cyclists to use when they are out and about.

As soon as the rest of the racks are in place, we'll let you know...and get some more pictures up.

Kryptonite at the Tour of Britain

With all the shows and schedules what they are, we're just getting these photos up. Check 'em out. Kryptonite at Crystal Palace during the Tour of Britain. By all accounts, it was jam packed all day with bikes.

Do you think everyone knew we were there? Gotta love that screaming yellow, eh?

Thanks to our great partners at Madison for making this happen and sending along the photos!

MASH World Premiere in San Fran

A few days ago we talked about supporting the bike valet program in San Francisco with the SFBC. We've just recieved a photo from the first event in the relationship. This is just a cool shot regardless of sponsorship - look at all those bikes!

Sure, you could park your own bike. But where's the novelty in that?

This is at the premiere of MASH, a locally made bike themed movie. Here's a quote from the directors that you can find on their website.

"It's not about stopping - it's about going as fast as you can. Commitment to every line, corner, and hill is what defines the style of these San Francisco riders. Come roll with us."
-- Gabe Morford and Mike Martin, Directors

Check it out!

Kryptonite Bike Valet Programs

Kryptonite's participated in many bike valet programs over the years - some we have run ourselves and some we sponsor. I remember sitting out in the snow and ice at Cyclocross Nationals a couple of years ago, freezing while watching people's bikes. There was a lot of jumping up and down - not at the racing action, just to keep warm. Brrrrr....

But I digress....it's summer now and we have some great things going on including sponsoring two prominent bike valet programs.

The first is in Portland, Oregon. We are sponsoring the bike valet area at the open meetings for the Platinum Bicycle Master Plan. They had their first meeting this week and BikePortland has a great recap. Check it out. There are two more meetings (June 12 and June 14) in different sections of the city. If you live in Portland, participate. This is a great way to become involved in the city's cycling discussions.

The second is a much larger program. We are happy to announce our partnership with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition as we sponsor their bike valet programs this summer. They support something like 50 events with a bike valet area. Kryptonite will be all over it! If you are at a large event in San Fran this summer, look for the Feel Free to Stop banners - that's where you can leave your bike safely. Goin' to the Movie in the Park series? Bring your bike! Participating in the Tour de Fat? Ride on over! Folsem Street Fair? We've got you covered.

Pretty cool, eh? Oh, best of all - it's Free! Wooo-hooo!

Look for more Kryptonite sponsored bike valet programs soon....we're working on it!